The Journal — Wardrobe

A suit that can only be worn to formal occasions is a limited garment. A suit that can be worn on a Tuesday afternoon, to a casual dinner, to a creative meeting — a suit that travels down the formality register as easily as it travels up — is a wardrobe foundation rather than an occasion piece.

The bomber jacket and the suit trouser is a combination that has moved from fashion experiment to wardrobe reality over the past decade. What was once a styling anomaly — the casual silhouette of a bomber against the formality of tailored trousers — has become a legitimate and intelligent wardrobe approach for men who want to span multiple registers without a full outfit change.

A coat over a suit is not an afterthought. It is the first thing anyone sees when you walk in — it establishes the register of the outfit before the jacket is visible, before the shoes are noted, before the tie is registered. A well-made coat over a well-made suit is one of the most commanding combinations in men's dress. An inadequate coat over an excellent suit creates a visual non-sequitur.

The question of what groomsmen wear is one of the most overthought decisions in wedding planning and one of the most underthought in execution. Many wedding parties end up in rented tuxedos that fit badly, or in matching navy suits bought off a rack in sizes that fit no one exactly. The result is a wedding party that looks like a group that got dressed together, rather than a group of well-dressed individuals with a shared aesthetic thread.